How Is Kali Alike

Death, as some may say is a must. Every human being on this planet is going to experience death and afterlife once their soul leaves their body. But this concept of death differs from one religion to the next. Some believe it is the permanent ending of soul while others believe it gives us a new beginning. As per to our class discussion, many different cultures hold different beliefs regarding life after death, burial, rebirth and incarnation of soul. In this paper, I will first describe what Hinduism and Islamic rhetoric say about death and after life, and secondly, compare and contrast how their practices differ from one another.

Concept of death is unknown to everyone. Death is eternal. A person cannot come back to tell the living about the death experience. Death is the one aspect of life that is guaranteed no matter what the circumstance. In the poem, “Because I could not stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson, she uses personification, symbols and metaphors to portray death as a person.

Instead of being regarded as the end, death is seen as the start of a new beginning in many cultures. In The Upanishads, there were two paths after death: unification with Brahman or reincarnation (p. 20). Reincarnation was the separation of the true self, Atman, from the apparent or physical self (Bhagavad-Gita, p. 37). The Atman will then acquire another self and live again in a new body, but it is still the same soul (Bhagavad-Gita, p. 37). Unification with Brahman, on the other hand, requires much more discipline and effort (Upanishads, p.24). One must get rid of all attachments and numb the senses in order to be free from death and achieve Brahman (Upanishads, p.25). Death is the final step in achieving Brahman since it is impossible

Jainism treats the issue of life and death in a very similar way. Followers believe that living a non-violent life and respecting the sacred life existing around people (according to the Jains, everything in the world, including the inanimate, has a soul) may release the human being from the vicious circle of re-incarnation. Jains also recognize the eternal nature of the human soul and believe it exists as enmeshed in the human’s or object’s body during a whole life. However, Jainism assumes that the soul parts from the body when it does to be re-incarnated into something (or somebody) else, which means Jains do not recognize the unity of soul and body. This is actually the principle of all three religions—they pose little value to the human life because all followers believe that the soul will still remain in the human world, but will only change its appearance once re-incarnated into some other being or object. (McKay et al., 2008)

Not everybody has the same beliefs about certain things. The world is a big place with billions of people and a lot of them have their own beliefs. One belief about death is the way Buddhism people see it and their belief is reincarnation. Today, Buddhism is found in Japan, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and China and in India, Sri Lanka Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal, Cambodia, also in the European countries and the USA. It is believed that the Buddhist population of the world is over five hundred million. Five hundred million people believe that if you die it is not the end of your life but the beginning of a new one. Your new life would be reborn in one of six realms which are: heaven, human beings, Asura, hungry ghost, animal and hell. This all depends on the karma of your life; the better your karma is, the better your reincarnation would be, and that is called the

Death is inevitable part of human experience, which is often associated with fear of unknown, separation, and spiritual connection. Death is an individual experience, which is based on unique perceptions and beliefs. Fear of death and dying seems to be a universal phenomenon, which is closely associated with apprehension and uneasiness. Death is allied with permanent loss, thus personal experiences of grief are similar in many different cultures. There are different mourning ceremonies, traditions, and behaviors to express grief, but the concept of permanent loss remains unchanged in cross cultural setting. With this paper I will identify cross-cultural perspectives on death and dying, and will analyze

Kali is a different form of the Mother Goddess, Durga. She is depicted as appalling and ferocious with dark skin and long, untamed hair along with her long tongue protruding out of her mouth. In two of her four arms, she carries a bloody sword and the head of the demon Raktabija. Kali is the goddess of destruction and change.

He was the youngest of seven siblings; except for the oldest two, all the children were adopted, and the mother fostered other children as well. “Kalief was the last brought into the family,” an older brother told me. “By the time it came to Kalief, my mom had already raised—in foster care or adoption—a total of thirty-four kids.” Kalief was the smallest, he recalled, “so my mom called him Peanut.”

Emily Dickinson is well-known due to the fact that she uses an immense amount of death in her poetry; she is also known as being reclusive and death-obsessed. Although other poets don’t typically use large amounts of death in his or her own poetry, Dickinson decided to take her own path in order to get her point across; meanwhile, some found her obsession with death rather disturbing. On the other hand, death could be interpreted through various forms of symbolism. For example, death can symbolize things such as equality, religion, and journeys. Additionally, death can be used to express the loss of a loved one or even an internal loss of yourself, such as despair. Her poems about death

Death is one of the only things guaranteed in life and most religions have meaningful and precise customs, traditions, and funerary practices revolving around death. From specific protocols for preparing the body to performing certain duties during the memorial service. The structure that religion provides around dealing with death offers guidance to grief stricken survivors and fulfills religious obligations. The two religions I chose to focus on for this paper is Buddhism more specifically the Mahayana sect of Buddhism and religion I the Mayan civilization. Mahayana Buddhism and Mayan religions have similar aspects in dealing with death and the funerary practices such as cremation.

     Since Buddhism and Hinduism have different believes they also have different holy days. Moreover, because Hindus worship variety of gods they have a variety of festivals. The three main festivals of Hinduism are: Holi, Divali, and Dasehra. Holi is the most popular festival. This holy day is celebrated each year during February-March to welcome spring. “Holi is dedicated to god Krishna and it was once a fertility ceremony (104).” Throughout the days of Holi, many of the casts and taboo restrictions are set aside and pleasure is emphasized. The second ceremony Divali, celebrated in November, is a festival to welcome a new year. Finally the third festival, the Dasehra, celebrated up to nine days in October, in honor of Durga, a consort of Shiva. On the other hand Buddhism is divided in many ways according to philosophy and geography. The major festivals that are celebrated by most Buddhists are New Year, Buddha’s birthday, the festival of souls, and robe offering. In

Death: The Inescapable Death, something no one can escape, is one thing everyone has to look forward to in life. It does not matter who one is or what someone does in order to try and stop the one guaranteed thing in your life, it will happen. Death does not have any sympathy for who you are or what you are going through, if it is your time, then there’s no way for you to try and control your fate. A very well known author/poet, Edgar Allen Poe, often looked death in its face in his stories. In his short story, “The Masque of the Red Death,” Edgar Allen Poe uses multiple symbols to convey his hidden message which is that no one is able to escape death.

Also, as mentioned, Hindus believe in the caste system, moksha and Brahman. It is believed that one must work their way up in the caste system to reach the ultimate goal of Moksha, to be one with the energy of Brahman. Since Hindus believe in the caste system they believe that after death they will be incarnated and they will live another life as a different person and they will have a different Dharma to achieve. Everyone starts off at the bottom of the caste and depending on the Dharma, Karma and Yoga one has completed it will determine if the individual will move up in the caste system, if they will stay in the same caste or even if they will drop down to a lower caste. Since Hindus believe that they will have another life they do not care for their bodies, they only care about reaching the goal to be one with the Brahman after achieving Moksha. “For sure is the death of all that comes to birth, sure is the birth of all that dies. So, in a matter that no one can prevent thou hast no cause to grieve” (Bhagavad Gita 2:27) Also, families do not care to grieve and believe it is not necessary to grieve over the loss of a loved one since their death means that they are moving on to a better life, and one day will accomplish the goal of returning to Moksha. Once all the levels of the caste are completed the individual exits the castes also known as the process of samsara

Many religions view death in a variety of ways but in the end they all have one goal, for our loved one to slip

I do agree that the play does express a conflict individual versus society, but also feel that this could be individual versus self. As Kali has an internal conflict that is express about her not wanting to tell her family that she is gay. She feels that if she tells them they will disown her. I do see the individual versus individual because she is in conflict with Steve as he tries to marry her right away. Do you feel that the main conflict of the play was with Steve and Kali or do you feel that it was Steve and Kali’s conflicts within themselves? As Steve is being pressured to get married and Kali is pressured because she does not know how to tell her family she is lesbian.